The Northern Joe Cup Preview: Malik, Khan & Withington Among Young Stars on Show

Some of squash’s most exciting young stars will be in action this week at The Northern Joe Cup, which features the reigning world junior boy’s champion and runner-up, both 2023 British junior champions, plus several teenagers who are inside the world’s top 100. 

Played in memory of Joe Rawcliffe, who passed away from a brain tumour in 2020, the Northern Joe Cup is now into its third year and is bigger than ever, as a men’s and women’s 9k event, with Joe’s brother Isaac among the wild cards. 

France’s Toufik Mekhalfi is the men’s No.1 seed, just ahead of rising star Finnlay Withington and Wales’ Emyr Evans, who will both have home-court advantage as both train at The Club, which has a partnership with both venues this event is held at, Cheetham Hill Sports Club and Fairways Lodge and Leisure Club.

Withington’s opponent in round two will be either current world junior champion Hamza Khan or reigning British junior champion Jonah Bryant, with the draw having thrown the pair together in a mouthwatering round-one matchup. 

Khan is coming into this event off the back of a run to the quarter-finals of the London Open, beating former World No.1 James Willstrop along the way, while Bryant enters here having won his second successive PSA Tour title, at the Telsa Media David Lloyd Purley Open. 

Mohamad Zakaria, who Khan beat to claim the world junior crown earlier this year but who has since gone on to make history on the PSA Tour, is also in action, playing wild card Stephen Hearst in round one. 

The women’s draw is headlined by plenty of talented prospects too, with the top five seeds all teenagers who are inside the world’s top 100. 

They are led by 19-year-old Torrie Malik, who already has seven PSA Tour titles to her name and finished as runner-up here last year. 

The champion that day was another 19-year-old, Saran Nghiem, who is the No.3 seed, just ahead of Asia Harris and Menna Walid, with Malaysia’s Yasshmita Jadish Kumar at No.2. 

Beyond the seeds, 18-year-old Amelie Haworth will be hoping to continue her good form with another deep run. 

Like Bryant, Haworth won the British junior title in Sheffield just a few weeks ago and then reached the final of the Telsa Media David Lloyd Purley Open, though she fell one step short of glory, losing out to Scotland’s Alison Thompson. 

You can watch the Northern Joe Cup live on the PSA Live Streaming YouTube channel, and you can donate to the Brain Tumour Charity in memory of Joe Rawcliffe here.